Useless Oscar trivia you won't find anywhere else

Tuesday

Feb 25, 2014 at 12:01 AMFeb 25, 2014 at 12:15 AM

Andy Vineberg @ADVineberg

Each year around this time, everybody with even a passing interest in movies — experts and novices alike — weighs in on the Academy Awards: Who will win, who should win and who should never have been nominated in the first place.

And every year around this time, I come up with utterly useless Oscar trends and trivia you’re unlikely to find anywhere else.

I promise most (all?) of these will have zero significance come Sunday night — but that’s never stopped me before.

So as you labor over the last few categories on our Oscar contest ballot (hurry, the deadline’s tomorrow!), you’d be wise not to factor in any of the following nuggets of Hollywood minutiae.

But hopefully, you’ll find them at least somewhat interesting ...

Short stuff

Bad news for "Her": No Oscar-nominated film with three or less letters in its title has ever won best picture.

Of course, there haven’t been very many. The political thriller “Z” (1969) and the animated “Up” (2009) are the only Oscar-nominated titles shorter than “Her,” and the only fellow three-letter nominees are “JFK” (1991) and “Ray” (2004).

For what it’s worth, “Argo” last year became only the second four-letter title to win best picture, following “Gigi” (1958).

(I told you this stuff was meaningless.)

By the numbers

If, as predicted by many, the powerful “12 Years a Slave” wins the top prize Sunday, it would become the first best picture winner whose title starts with a digit.

There have been only four other best picture nominees to start with a digit (we’re not counting titles that start with a number spelled out, such as “Zero Dark Thirty”): “42nd Street” (1932-33), “49th Parallel” (1942), “12 Angry Men” (1957) and “127 Hours” (2010).

Stating its case

There have been plenty of best picture nominees with a U.S. city in the title: “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” “The Philadelphia Story,” “Nashville,” “Atlantic City,” “Fargo,” 2002 winner “Chicago” and this year’s “Dallas Buyers Club,” to name just seven.

But believe it or not, “Nebraska” is only the third best picture nominee named for a U.S. state. Neither of the previous two won: “In Old Arizona” (1928-29) and “Mississippi Burning” (1988). (Wait — “Jersey Girl” wasn’t nominated for best picture?)

A stickler might try to add “Gangs of New York” to this small list, but that title referred to the city, not the state. And, no, you can’t count “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”, either.

Yay, America!

And while on the subject of geography ...

The odds for best picture are in “American Hustle’s” favor, not because of director David O. Russell or its acclaimed cast, but because of an impressive statistic.

Of the four previous best picture nominees with “America” in the title, two were victorious: “An American in Paris” (1951) and “American Beauty” (1999). The other two were Elia Kazan’s “America, America” (1963) and “American Graffiti” (1973).

3-D or not 3-D

All kidding aside, “Gravity” has a realistic chance to become the first film released predominantly in 3-D to win best picture. The previous five 3-D nominees: “Avatar” (2009), “Up” (2009), “Toy Story 3” (2010), “Hugo” (2011) and “Life of Pi” (2012).

“Gravity” is also just the fifth film nominated in all seven technical categories, joining 1997 best picture winner “Titanic,” as well as “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” (2002), “Hugo” and “Life of Pi.”

Thanks to The Hollywood Reporter for these two actually relevant Oscar facts. Now, back to the nonsense ...

Howl of a chance

Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street” is just the second best picture nominee to mention that particular animal. (Again, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” doesn’t count.) The only other, “Dances With Wolves,” won best picture in 1990 — although we all know that honor should have gone to Scorsese’s “GoodFellas.”

Phill-ed with fortune?

“Captain Phillips” wouldn’t be the first Phillips to win a best picture Oscar. The husband-and-wife team of Michael and Julia Phillips won an Academy Award in 1973 for producing best picture winner “The Sting.”

OK, now that we’ve really scraped the bottom of the barrel of irrelevancy, it’s time to switch from the best picture nominees to some of the acting contenders. Just don’t expect any rise in the level of cinematic discourse ...

Worldwide stage

If either London native Chiwetel Ejiofor (“12 Years a Slave) or Wales-born Christian Bale (“American Hustle”) wins best actor, it would mark the fourth consecutive year the award went to a non-American-born actor, following Daniel Day-Lewis in “Lincoln,” Jean Dujardin in “The Artist” and Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech.”

That’s never happened before, although there have been two other stretches when internationally born actors won this award three consecutive years.

The international dominance is even more profound in the supporting actor category, where no native American has won since Brooklyn-born Alan Arkin for “Little Miss Sunshine” in 2006. That trend could continue this year, with West Germany’s Michael Fassbender (“12 Years a Slave”) and Somalia’s Barkhad Abdi (“Captain Phillips”) among the nominees.

Anyway, if you’re scoring at home, the last American-born male to win an acting Oscar was Jeff Bridges (lead for “Crazy Heart,” 2009), which no doubt has to rankle the jingoistic pride of some patriotic moviegoers.

Hey, at least there are no Canadians up for any of the acting categories this year. (Yeah, I’m still bitter about last week’s Olympic hockey results.)

Philly connection

Jenkintown’s Bradley Cooper is not favored to win best supporting actor for his role in “American Hustle,” but after 64 years, the Philly area is due for another male Oscar winner.

Grace Kelly won lead actress for “The Country Girl” (1954), but no male from this area has won an Oscar since Philly native Broderick Crawford won for 1949’s “All the King’s Men.”

Cooper’s similarities to Crawford could bode well for his chances. They’ve got the same initials. He’s 39, around the same age Crawford was when he won his Oscar (38). And both “All the King’s Men” and “American Hustle” were inspired by real-life political events.

Sounds like Cooper’s a shoo-in.

Monthly challenge

If first-time nominee June Squibb wins best supporting actress for “Nebraska,” she’d be the first Oscar-winning actress named for a month.

The only previous nominees: May Robson (lead for “Lady for a Day,” 1932-33), May Whitty (two-time supporting nominee for “Night Must Fall,” 1937, and “Mrs. Miniver,” 1942), plus, if you wanted to stretch things a bit, Edna May Oliver (supporting for “Drums Along the Mohawk,” 1939) and Colette Marchland (supporting for “Moulin Rouge,” 1952).

Several actresses have been nominated for playing characters named after months, including Reese Witherspoon, who won a best actress Oscar for her portrayal of June Carter Cash in “Walk the Line.”

The only actress twice nominated for playing characters named for months? Winona Ryder (supporting for May Welland in “The Age of the Innocence,” 1993, and lead for Jo March in “Little Women,” 1994).

Who said we didn’t provide worthwhile information in this space?

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